The Fabulous Moolah
Mary Lillian Ellison was an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name The Fabulous Moolah. Biography While the name Lillian Ellison may not be well-known to sports-entertainment fans, her alter ego is one that will never be forgotten: The Fabulous Moolah. In the world of women's wrestling, there will always be one irrefutable legend that stands head and shoulders above the rest, and her name is Moolah. She was the longest reigning champion in the history of her chosen sport -- or any sport for that matter -- and she established a legacy that made her name synonymous with women's wrestling in a career that spanned over 50 years. Born Lillian Ellison in South Carolina in 1923, Moolah became a fan of sports-entertainment following the passing of her mother; her father would take her to shows as a young girl in hopes of cheering up his distraught daughter, and little did he know the impact it would have. Moolah was trained for the ring in the 1940s by then-Women's Champion Mildred Burke, the sport's biggest female star at the time. But her career actually began outside the ring, where she served as one of wrestling's first female valets. Dubbed "Slave Girl Moolah" by promoter Jack Pfeffer, she was an alluring presence at ringside for competitors such as the gruesome Elephant Boy and the United States Champion, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. Ellison's in-ring career began hitting its stride by the mid 1950s when she began calling herself The Fabulous Moolah. In 1956, she outlasted 12 other ladies -- last eliminating Judy Grable -- to win a Battle Royal for the vacant Women's Championship of the World. She would go on to hold the title for the next 28 years, a feat unprecedented in the annals of human achievement. During that time, she became the first woman to ever wrestle in Madison Square Garden, as she and WWE promoter Vincent J. McMahon successfully beat the ban against women's wrestling at The Garden. In July 1984, her 28-year reign was finally ended in Madison Square Garden by Wendi Richter, a young competitor managed by pop star Cyndi Lauper. The bout aired live on MTV, giving a whole new generation of sports-entertainment fans a glimpse of the greatest lady competitor in the game's history. Following the loss, Moolah began phasing out her in-ring exploits, choosing instead to manage protégé Leilani Kai, one of the many future Superstars she had trained during her time as champion. With Moolah's guidance, Kai beat Richter for the Women's Title, setting up a match between the two at the first WrestleMania in 1985. Richter would regain the gold, and it would be Moolah herself, under a mask as the "Spider Lady," who would finally take back the championship from Wendi not long after. During her final reign as champion, Moolah also took on another role; she became the "Queen" of WWE, often accompanying "King" Harley Race and manager Bobby Heenan to ringside. Finally, in July 1987, Moolah lost the gold to "Sensational" Sherri Martel, and after captaining a team that defeated Martel's in the inaugural Survivor Series later that year, Moolah effectively retired from in-ring competition. As 1987 came to a close, it seemed that the queen of women's wrestling had finally come to the end of her run. In 1995, her career was punctuated when she became the first female inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Inducted by then-Women's Champion Alundra Blayze, Moolah was recognized as the true pioneer -- and biggest legend -- in the history of women's wrestling. After a 40-year career and induction into the Hall of Fame, imagine the surprise of our fans everywhere in 1999, when Moolah -- by that time in her 70s -- returned to WWE television with long-time friend and fellow competitor Mae Young by her side. That October, the unthinkable happened: Moolah defeated reigning WWE Women's Champion Ivory to win the title for the fourth time and become the oldest titleholder in the history of the sport. She didn't hold the title gold for long, but it was a testament to her amazing tenacity and ability that she was able to make such a miraculous comeback in the first place. Over the next few years, Moolah -- usually with Mae at her side -- would make a variety of appearances in WWE. In 2003, Moolah celebrated her 80th birthday by facing Victoria on Raw; that night, she defeated Victoria to become the first octogenarian to compete in a WWE ring. Her final appearance came at SummerSlam 2007, where Moolah & Mae were spotted with Mr. McMahon in his office during the show. Less than three months later on November 2, 2007, Moolah passed away at the age of 84. The name of The Fabulous Moolah will forever be etched in the annals of sport as the defining one in women's wrestling. Her name will always be synonymous with success, as she was a true trailblazer who set the path for the female Superstars of today to show the world what they can do. - WWE.com Training and promoting Ellison and her second husband Johnny Long began training women to become female wrestlers, which included Ella Waldek, Daisy Mae, and Katherine Simpson. Long later contacted promoter Jack Pfefer, who agreed to book some of the wrestlers at his shows. After marrying wrestler Buddy Lee, he began helping Ellison train the female wrestlers. After she left Pfeffer's promotion in the 1950s, Ellison found it difficult to book her trainees in shows due to Pfeffer's influence over other National Wrestling Alliance promoters. Ellison claimed Pfeffer would threaten to reveal the pre-planned nature of wrestling if any other promoters did not do as he liked. As a result, Ellison began selling cosmetics door-to-door and Lee opened a service station to make enough money to pay their bills. They later began to book their wrestlers, including Judy Grable in Boston, under promoter Paul Bowser. In the late 1950s when the once-dominant promoter of women's wrestling, Billy Wolfe, was out of business, Ellison and Lee began to book their female wrestlers for more and more shows. They began calling their promoting business Girl Wrestling Enterprises (GWE). Ellison demanded a lot from the girls of GWE, including that they had to keep their hair and make-up done, act like a lady, and not date men who were in the professional wrestling business. In addition to women, Ellison also trained midget professional wrestlers, including Katie Glass in the 1960s. Ellison founded the Ladies' International Wrestling Association, a non-profit organization to help retired professional wrestlers, in the late 1980s. In the 1990s, she spent most of her time training female wrestlers at her school in Columbia, South Carolina. She also began training men, including Del Wilkes, and in 1995 trained more men than women. She also spent time training in Los Angeles at Verne Langdon's Slammers Gym. Allegations of exploitation Financial and sexual exploitation Journalist Dave Meltzer wrote an obituary for Moolah in which he stated that "different promoters had very different ideas of what being professional meant." Wrestling historian Tim Hornbaker said that Moolah "chose not to" break the "dishonest, greedy" practices established by her mentor Billy Wolfe. Pat Laprade and Dan Murphy, in their book Sisterhood of the Squared Circle, wrote that Moolah's "tactics could be just as ruthless and cutthroat as those of 'The Godfather,'" Don Corleone. Wendi Richter and Mad Maxine both claimed that Ellison did not actually train the wrestlers at her wrestling school. According to Richter, Ellison accepted payment of the training fee (which at the time of Richter's training was $500) and had other female wrestlers within her camp (including Leilani Kai, Judy Martin, Winona Littleheart, and Joyce Grable) train the new recruits; these women did not get paid for their additional work as trainers. Richter also claimed that Ellison required all women that received training at her camp to sign a contract that allowed Ellison to function as their booker and receive 25% of their booking fee. Trainees were also required to rent duplex apartments on Ellison's property and they were responsible for paying her for rent and utilities. The training lasted six months and took place up to five hours per day inside a wrestling ring in a barn that lacked heating and air conditioning or fans. Mad Maxine said that due to owing Moolah both rent and training fees amounting to $1,500, the trainees "went into debt to Moolah and she controlled their lives... It was an environment ripe for abuse." Maxine also said that when she went to work for WWF, Moolah was taking at least half of Maxine's earnings. Debbie Johnson, another former trainee of Ellison's, stated that she was required to give Ellison 30% of her booking fee, and her paycheck was further reduced as Ellison deducted travel expenses, food, rent, and utilities before paying her. As a result, Johnson worked for Ellison for two years before she received any money. Johnson stated that Ellison would refuse to book certain women in her training camp if they angered her, and that Ellison monitored her and refused to let her leave the physical constraints of the training camp unless she was accompanied by someone else. Over the years, various female wrestlers have come forward with stories accusing Ellison of being a pimp who often provided various wrestling promoters with unsuspecting female wrestlers that would be used as sex objects. Penny Banner directly described Moolah as a pimp who "in return for money," rented her female trainees out "in bulk" to wrestling promoters so that the promoters and the male wrestlers could have sex with them. Banner said the women who were "sent on these tours were not told of this 'arrangement' ahead of time," and that "those who refused to have sex with wrestlers and promoters were raped." One of the most notorious accusations is from the family of Sweet Georgia Brown (Susie Mae McCoy). McCoy, who was trained and booked by Ellison and her then-husband Buddy Lee, told her daughter that she was often raped, given drugs, and made an addict in an intentional attempt by Ellison and Lee to control her. Ida Martinez, who wrestled during the 1960s, also recalls that many of the regional promoters "demanded personal services" before they would pay the female wrestlers. Mad Maxine described Moolah as an "evil person," saying Moolah made money by sending trainees "out to this guy in Arizona and pimped them out." In a 2002 interview, Luna Vachon claimed that when she was sixteen years old and training at Ellison's camp, Ellison sent her out of state to be photographed by an older man. Although she remained clothed during the photo shoot, Vachon stated she felt taken advantage of by Ellison and the older man. Vachon also stated that her aunt, Vivian Vachon, witnessed Ellison abusing alcohol and having sex with her female trainees. Sandy Parker, a lesbian former pupil of Ellison's, also claims that Ellison forbade her from going to any gay bars and tried to press her to date men. Parker says this enraged her, because "(Moolah) was two faced because she had her own little dalliances that we all knew about." However, several former co-workers have spoken out in Ellison's defense. Professional wrestler Shane Douglas said he never heard anybody speaking against Moolah during his career. Bruce Prichard said she was a "wonderful human being" and "She was always good to me, and she treated me well." Former female wrestler Beverly Shade also defended Moolah, claiming "Moolah wasn't that kind of person." Jerry Lawler also said he "never heard or saw anything like that when I was in the business around Moolah and her girls." Former trainee Princess Victoria said Moolah never pimp any women or use drugs, but she did take money from them. Manipulation of the women's wrestling industry in the United States As well as allegedly exploiting female wrestlers sexually, Ellison was accused of using her influence to control the women's wrestling scene and ensure that other women did not gain greater recognition. In addition to being a key participant in the original screwjob on Wendi Richter, Ellison used her influence to take over the spot originally held by her protégé Mad Maxine on the animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. Maxine was about to receive a big push by Vince McMahon but left the WWF shortly afterwards, as Ellison was unwilling to provide her with additional bookings. Maxine said that Moolah never told her about WWF's plans for Maxine's character to be included on Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. Numerous other former trainees defected from Ellison after growing tired of sharing their paychecks with Ellison. Women wrestlers including Vivian and Luna Vachon, Ann Casey, and Darling Dagmar moved into other regions where Ellison had less control and negotiated their own payouts with promoters. Both Judy Martin and Leilani Kai told in later interviews that Moolah would collect the women wrestlers' pay from promoters, and after taking out her own pay, would only give the girls half of the money they were owed (keeping half of their pay for herself, plus her own pay) and telling them that was all the promoter gave her to give them. Martin stated that shortly before Ellison left the WWF in 1988 (shortly after falling out with Martin and Kai due to Ellison no longer receiving their booking fees), she sabotaged the duo while they were touring Japan. Martin stated that Ellison contacted Japanese promoters and informed them that the Jumping Bomb Angels were supposed to drop the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship to The Glamour Girls before Martin and Kai returned to the United States. This was contrary to the booking decision made by Pat Patterson before the Japanese tour began. Unable to reach Patterson by telephone, Kai and Martin agreed to win the titles from the Angels since Ellison had already misinformed the Japanese promoters. Martin stated that upon returning to the United States, Patterson was angry with them and confirmed that nobody within the WWF made the decision for the title change and that due to her long-standing relationship with the company, the WWF refused to listen to their explanation of Ellison's deceit. Shortly thereafter, the WWF phased out the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. In a later shoot interview, Leilani Kai told that had things gone as the WWF originally planned, The Glamour Girls would have had a title match against the Jumping Bomb Angels at WrestleMania IV and that Ellison's actions had cost the four girls what would have been ultimately their biggest ever payday. Women that chose to continue allowing Ellison to work as their booker were kept under tight control. Velvet McIntyre was forced to compete against Ellison (whom McIntyre stated she didn't care for) at WrestleMania 2 instead of competing during an all-women tour of Kuwait with a group of Ellison's other female wrestlers. Their WrestleMania 2 match lasted less than two minutes with the referee ignoring McIntyre's leg being on the ropes while she was being pinned. Women that did not agree to Ellison's booking fees faced limited options. Rhonda Sing stated that Ellison contacted her and offered to let her wrestle Richter in a couple of pay-per-view matches for the WWF in 1985, but demanded she receive half of Sing's pay check; a stipulation Sing was unwilling to accept. Penny Banner stated that her retirement was due in large part to Ellison refusing to allow any of her female wrestlers to accept bookings against Banner, which severely limited the number of bookings that Banner was offered by promoters. Legacy David Bixenspan of Deadspin pointed out that Moolah wrestled an "in-ring style low on athleticism and heavy on hair-pulling", and taught this style to her students. This "worsened the in-genre gender divide" and resulted in American women's wrestling becoming "much more of a sideshow" instead of the women's world title being a "legitimate headline attraction" in the era before Moolah. As such, he rejected WWE's characterization of Moolah as someone who "challenged the gender norms of a once male-dominated sport". Dave Meltzer described that women's wrestling "went way way down" under Moolah's "tutelage", but he also said he did not know if it was her fault. Meltzer said that although women "used to headline and they were successful", "during the period Moolah controlled women's wrestling, the popularity and product didn't evolve." However, Meltzer noted that Moolah herself "stood the test of time" to remain culturally relevant long after the Japanese female wrestlers of the 1980s (more popular at that time) had faded from relevance. In March 2018, WWE announced "The Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal", a battle royal for the female wrestlers of the company scheduled for WrestleMania 34 named in honor of Moolah. The decision to hold a battle royal in honor of Moolah drew controversy after the allegations of exploitation against Moolah surfaced. Two days after the announcement, WWE renamed the match "WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal", removing Moolah's name from the event. Other media An animated version of Moolah was included on Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. In addition, she appeared in one of Cyndi Lauper's music videos, "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough". An illness in the mid-1970s meant Ellison had to pull out of the Bill Cosby movie Mother, Jugs & Speed, which had a role written specifically for her. In 2002, Moolah wrote her autobiography, The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. The book has been criticized for keeping kayfabe (the stance that wrestling storylines are real) and did not reveal a lot about her time controlling women's wrestling. Defending herself against these claims, Ellison retorted it was hard to fit all of her almost five decade career into one book. Moolah and Young, along with several other female wrestlers, starred in the 2004 film Lipstick and Dynamite a documentary about the female wrestlers from the 1950s era. They also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien promoting the film. Personal life Ellison's first husband was Walter Carroll, who became the father of her daughter Mary. Mary wrestled briefly but decided against pursuing the profession. Ellison had six grandchildren. Ellison and Carroll divorced shortly after their daughter's birth. Later, Ellison married wrestler Johnny Long. Marital conflicts developed when Long wanted Ellison to be a housewife instead of a career woman. In addition, Ellison accused Long of being a "womanizer". Ellison and Long divorced. Ellison also says that she dated country singer Hank Williams for four months in 1952. According to Ellison, Williams proposed to her, but Williams's drinking and heroin abuse forced the couple to go separate ways. She further claimed that he wanted Ellison to quit her wrestling career, which she did not want to do. Two months after the breakup, Williams died due to an overdose. Later, Ellison met a wrestler named Buddy Lee, whom she regarded as the "love of her life." They were eventually married, and after divorcing in 1970 after nine years of marriage, they remained friends until Lee's death in 1999. The divorce was attributed to Lee's affair with Rita Cortez, one of the wrestlers the duo was training. In the early 1980s, Ellison opened Moolah's Hideaway, a bar and grill which was operated by her daughter Mary and frequented by André the Giant. Beginning in 1991, Ellison lived with Mae Young in a house in Columbia, South Carolina. Her estate was located on a road named Moolah Drive. A midget professional wrestler named Katie Glass also lived with Moolah for over 40 years. Another wrestler, Donna Christanello, also lived with Ellison on-and-off for 40 years, ending in May 1999. During her return to the ring in 1999, Ellison began experiencing occasional dizziness, and as a result, her doctor requested that she begin to wear a heart monitor. A few days later, Ellison was admitted to the hospital for what turned out to be two clogged arteries and viral pneumonia. She stayed at the intensive-care unit of the hospital for 24 days, during which she was unconscious for fifteen days. After leaving the hospital, she again slipped into unconsciousness in the bathroom at her home, crushing several vertebrae. She underwent successful back surgery in mid-December. Death Ellison died on November 2, 2007 at the age of 84 in Columbia, South Carolina. According to her daughter Mary, the possible cause of death was a heart attack or blood clot related to a recent shoulder replacement surgery. Mary Ellison is buried in a grave plot at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Columbia, South Carolina. The plot appears to be a family plot designed for The Fabulous Moolah, her daughter Mary, Mae Young, Katie Glass, and add-ons for the rest of her family. Championships and accomplishments * Cauliflower Alley Club ** Ladies Wrestling Award (1997) * National Wrestling Alliance ** NWA Women's World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Toni Rose ** NWA World Women's Championship (5 times) ** NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2012) * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** Stanley Weston Award (1991) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum ** Class of 2003 * World Wrestling Federation ** WWF Women's Championship (4 times) ** WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1995) * Wrestling Observer Newsletter ** Worst Match of the Year (1984) vs. Wendi Richter on July 23 * Other ** JWPA Women's Championship ** USA Women's Wrestling Championship ** Women's World Junior Heavyweight Championship Category:WWE Alumni Category:1983 Debuts Category:1987 Departures Category:Wrestlers Category:American Divas Category:Golden Age Era Category:WWE Women's Champions Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:Deceased